Good Books for Catholic Husbands and Fathers

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In our house, I am undeniably the bibliophile.  My very busy, military officer husband used to claim he didn’t like reading, but over time has altered his position to: “I only like (and have time for) reading practical, inspiring books.”  Once he actually finds a book he likes though, he thinks everyone should read it!  This list includes some of his favorites, which you will probably hear recommended over dinner if you ever come to our house.

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Peter Kreeft’s clear, logical style resonates with men, so it’s no surprise my husband’s first book recommendation is usually Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions. Actually, both of us loved this book, because it offers exactly what the title states: practical wisdom about everyday moral decisions. Kreeft provides a general framework and then addresses some specific common moral conundrums.

Kreeft has written a plethora of excellent books such as , but another title of particular interest for Catholic fathers is Before I Go: Letters to Our Children About What Really Matters. In this book, Kreeft shares his astute thoughts on what is most important to discuss and pass on to our children.

 

 

Another favorite author of both my husband and father is Matthew Kelly, a devout Catholic and also fantastic self-help type motivational speaker. His Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction was extremely helpful for my husband in mapping out his path forward for his career and our family.

Another Matthew Kelly book which is perfect for a couple to read together is The Seven Levels of Intimacy. This book is sure to help you improve communication with your spouse and build a more meaningful relationship. Matthew Kelly’s simple, direct style makes this a quick and easy read.

Randy Hain’s Something More: The Professional’s Pursuit of a Meaningful Life is similar to Matthew Kelly’s Off Balance: Getting Beyond the Work-Life Balance Myth to Personal and Professional Satisfaction. It’s another excellent book about trying to create harmony in all areas of your life.

Another great book by Hain is Journey to Heaven: A Road Map for Catholic Men. In this book, Hain undertakes to synthesize a lifestyle that combines authentic masculinity with a deep spirituality.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori’s Uniformity with God’s Will is a very short but highly practical little book which lays out a path to holiness based on submitting our will to God’s throughout the events of every day life.

Dr. Gregory Popcak’s Holy Sex!: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving is a favorite wedding gift for my husband’s friends. This isn’t simply a book about sex. Rather, it’s about how every moment of our day to day married lives needs to be about loving and serving one another, because that is the path to a happy marriage.

We are admittedly fond of Popcak’s books, so Parenting with Grace: The Catholic Parents’ Guide to Raising almost Perfect Kids has been our general road map for parenting style.

My husband really enjoyed reading Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know recently, and has already loaned it out to a friend! He was really impressed with how important the father is for girls’ success in life on every level from emotional stability to academic success to being able to pick a good husband.

Since we were blessed to attend classes by Dr. John Cuddeback during college, we have a particular fondness for True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness. Cuddeback draws on Aristotelian philosophy to explain what true friendship looks like and what its purpose is.

My husband has a fondness for Venerable Fulton Sheen’s work, whether in audio or book form. We own Life is Worth Living, which is a collection of scripts from Sheen’s extremely popular television show of the same title. Each chapter is short, but thought-provoking.

Dale Ahlquist takes G. K. Chesterton’s prodigious genius and simplifies it to a level that mere mortals can understand at the end of a fourteen hour work day. All Roads: Roamin’ Catholic Apologetics is a series of very short (three page usually) chapters which clarify Chesterton’s unique wisdom and insight on a wide variety of topics.

The Way, Furrow, The Forge are three spiritual classics by Josemaria Escriva which my husband enjoys for its concise yet compelling one liners about following Jesus.

Because of Our Fathers

Because of Our Fathers is a wonderful new collection of inspirational stories from Ignatius Press. Tyler Rowley edits these moving accounts from 23 famous modern Catholic figures about the impact of their fathers on their lives. A great Father’s Day present!

Good Picture Books about Emotions for Little Catholic Kids

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I know I am not the only mom God has blessed with very strong willed and passionate children! Helping my little ones learn to understand and control their strong feelings is a daily challenge. One of the most successful techniques I have found is reading books to familiarize them with the different emotions, normalize their strong feelings, and teach techniques for dealing with emotions. Here are some of our favorite books about emotions, feelings, social situations, and more.

What Do You Do With a Grumpy Kangaroo? is one of our favorite first books about feelings. Grumpy kangaroo feels a range of emotions from anger to fear to sadness to happiness throughout his day. This book is simple enough to help a one or two year old to name the emotions.

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear is not specifically about emotions, but it is easy to pick up the wide range of emotions the mouse feels throughout the story and point out his expressions.

The Rabbit Listened is a powerful lesson for parents and children about the importance of just being there and listening to someone when they’re sad. Toddler Taylor experiences loss, and many animals think they know how to help with words, distractions, and solutions. But in the end, the rabbit is the animal helps the most because he is willing to simply listen to Taylor.

Jilly’s Terrible Temper Tantrums: And How She Outgrew Them is the perfect book for the young child who struggles with terrible temper tantrums. Jilly has to learn to allow her parents to help her manage her strong emotions. I love how Jilly’s parents exhibit patience and calm throughout the story!

When I Feel Scared, When I Feel Sad , and When I Feel Angry are part of a series of books written specifically to help young children identify the emotions they feel and deal with these emotions in healthy ways. These books contain a section at the back with teaching tips, questions to discuss with your child, and further ideas for handling emotions.

Can God See Me in the Dark? takes a Catholic look at a mild fear of the dark by addressing whether God is still watching over children in the dark. We love this series by Neal Lozano!

One Special Day: A Story for Big Brothers and Sisters is not overtly about emotions, but it does offer a good lesson about different situations where different feelings are appropriate to act on. Active, crazy Spencer takes his energy and wild feelings outside so that he can be calm when his new little sister is around.This book is great for reading to new older siblings to help explain how to act around a baby.

Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale recounts the struggles of Clark, a cheerful, boisterous shark who wants to play with others but keeps knocking them over. His teacher helps him learn to control his desire to bump into others so he can make friends.

The Treasure Tree: Helping Kids Understand Their Personality is a wonderful story about four animal friends with very different personalities who use their strengths to together complete a treasure hunt. This book is great for showing children that no matter whether you are strong-willed or meticulous or anxious by nature, you have something to contribute to a group of friends.

We love What Should Danny Do?, a creative book that presents the concept of free will in an engaging manner for young children. Check out my review here!

Not a book, but I’ve had good success playing Q’s Race to the Top Educational Board Game as an extension of reading about emotions and feelings. This game helps children practice skills to deal with emotions and empathize with others.

Review of “The Hunger Games”

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Colllins was a smashing success, inspiring a plethora of dystopian young adult novels, none of which are remotely as gripping in my opinion. For Hunger Games is undeniably a well-told story with captivating characters. Collins uses the first person present tense: an unusual choice, but unexpectedly successful in drawing in the reader and providing a memorable voice for the heroine, Katniss.

To fill you in on the plot, Hunger Games is the story of Katniss Everdeen, a teenager who is chosen as a “tribute” or contestant in a mandatory “game” (fight to the death) between 16 children imposed as a punishment on the 12 districts of post-nuclear war Panem by its authoritarian government, the Capitol. The first book focuses on the two tributes from District 12, Katniss and Peeta’s, preparations, the game, and its aftermath. Book Two, Catching Fire, brings Katniss and Peeta back for another round of the games, and introduces a new plot line about Rebels working to overthrow the Capitol. Book Three, Mockingjay, describes Katniss’  uneasy alliance with the rebels, ostensibly to overthrow the Capitol, but in reality to get revenge on those she holds responsible for destroying her life.

There are a good number of problems with these books on a philosophical and moral level, some serious, so this is a series which it is important to discuss with your teenagers and encourage them to read with analytical attention. A first theme to have them watch for is the attitude towards religion. Or rather, the lack of any attitude towards religion. In fact, make that no mention of religion or God at all. For Panem apparently came to exist in a vacuum in which no one even thinks of a creator or supreme being, even to curse him. This complete and intentional refusal to even allow the characters to mention any religious sensibility is a glaring moral problem with the series, but honestly I also think one can see a theme here that a world that has no religion and no recognition of God is a harsh, barbaric world. Little wonder that one ends up with the horror of the Hunger Games when mankind is making up its own morality based on no objective moral standards. The real wonder is that Katniss, Peeta, and others actually do show loyalty, kindness, and compassion. In my opinion, despite an obvious attempt to remove God from the picture, Collins’ portrayal of good and bad characters and default to natural law morality still reflects the reality of God.

Another problematic theme in this series is revenge. Katniss cares deeply about friends and family, and spends much of the later books motivated by her desire for revenge on those who harmed her loved ones. Collins sometimes even portrays her desire for revenge as a somewhat laudable motivation. The question for Collins is not whether revenge is the answer, but who is ultimately responsible for the pain and suffering and deserving of death. Not should one take revenge, but upon whom should one wreak vengeance? Katniss, deeply damaged by her experiences, declares she wants the Hunger Games played out again by the Capitol children as a punishment. Readers need to realize that her desire for vengeance is disordered, again pointing back to the problems with removing God and eternity from the worldview. A fitting companion book to read is The Count of Monte Cristo, which has a powerful theme about revenge not ultimately bringing fulfillment or happiness.

Unsurprisingly given the lack of any belief in God or afterlife, suicide receives a troubling treatment in the Hunger Games. In the climatic final scene of the Hunger Games in the first book, Katniss and Peeta defy the Capitol by threatening to kill themselves rather than kill each other. This solution is cleverly designed by the author to portray suicide as a noble course of action in certain circumstances. Of course, as Catholics we know that suicide is never acceptable, and a discerning reader can point out that there were other options for Katniss and Peeta. For instance, they could have simply refused to fight at all and let themselves be killed by the mutant dogs that had been attacking them. Defying the Capitol did not need to involve a suicide threat.

One final negative influence I will point out is the theme that adults are incapable or unreliable. Almost without exception, the adults in the story disappoint Katniss and thrust her into taking an adult role herself. Her mother suffers from severe depression and her father is dead, so she is the head of her family from the age of 12. Her mentor for the games is a drunkard. The authority figures in the Capitol are the sick individuals who ordered the Games. The head of the Rebels proves to be as heartless and scheming as the Capitol rulers. Collins places Katniss into a world where every adult fails her, forcing her into the role of heroine and Rebel figurehead as a sixteen year old. The real wonder is that Katniss seems to understand intuitively how to be a leader given her complete dearth of positive role models.

Now while I clearly do not wholeheartedly embrace the Hunger Games as a moral tale, I do think there are some worthwhile positive themes that cancel the negative and make this series acceptable reading material. A first positive moral in this series is the theme that violence is bad. There is an odd dichotomy between the amount of violence described in the series, and the theme that violence is wrong: that violence is never the answer. In the first book, Katniss finds herself forced into scenarios where she must kill or be killed, but what sets her apart from most other players in the Games is her attitude that the violence and killing is wrong. Katniss sees killing human beings as horrible, and through her perspective so does the reader. This positive message about violence does become murkier as the series progresses, with the third book particularly devolving towards more gratuitously described violence and a damaged Katniss starting to become numb. I do think that Collins’ conclusion of the series with Katniss portrayed as a troubled, haunted woman who cannot move past the violence and trauma she has witnessed and endured is accurate and an important point to emphasize.

The overarching redeeming theme in the Hunger Games series is the positive message that human beings are persons to be valued, not objects to be used. Katniss’ charisma comes from her ability to see the people she meets as human, her compassion for them, her humanization of  those she meets. The moments that everyone in the entire country loves her, such as her flower burial of a murdered 12 year old in the arena, are the moments when she combats dehumanization and makes everyone see the dignity of each person. Similarly, Peeta, the “good” character, is first seen as such for his kindness to Katniss and other people, even trying ones. His goodness is that he treats Katniss as a person from childhood onward. In contrast, the other character in the love triangle, Katniss’ friend Gale, loses her to Peeta because she cannot bear that he begins to treat people like animals. Likewise, the evil Capitol devalues human life, sentencing children to a sick game of slaughtering one another. The goodness or badness of persons and entities in the Hunger Games series is closely tied to their recognition or dehumanization of human persons.

Another theme that makes Hunger Games beautiful and memorable is that even in a brutal, dehumanizing totalitarian regime, people find the courage to help one another, treat each other as human beings, and resist, even if only by their silence. Several poignant scenes involve a protest where an entire District refuses to cheer, or offers a silent salute to Katniss’ human dignity-affirming actions. The message that evil flourishes when good people do nothing is strongly affirmed. All that it takes to begin to overthrow the Capitol’s power is a couple teenagers who refuse to kill one another. Their small resistance leads to silent protests, then to full out revolution.

The Hunger Games Trilogy teeters on the brink between truly worthwhile literature and sensational young adult fiction. The three books in the series vary greatly in coherency, theme, and merit. The first book, The Hunger Games, is the best in my opinion, and certainly worthy of having a high schooler read and discuss or write a paper on. Yes, there are some moral problems with the series, but with a little guidance, high schoolers can recognize the bad, take away the good themes, and enjoy a creative story.

Ideas for discussion questions or book report topics:
1. Does the author intentionally never mention God or religion? Is that a realistic picture of human nature: are people religious by nature? Despite attempting to remove God from the picture, does the author still acknowledge the natural law by creating good and bad characters? Does the author’s Godless world seem to need God?
2.Apply three of Peter Kreeft’s arguments for God’s existence to the world of Panem.
3. Are there any positive adult role models in Katniss’ life? Why would the author create a book where all the adults are deeply flawed? Does this play on a common teenagers’ assumption that they are wiser than adults?
4. Is violence portrayed as negative or positive? Killing? How well does Katniss recover from her ordeal? Peeta?
5. What are the moments Katniss most touches the world of Panem? Why do her compassionate, personhood-affirming actions resonate so strongly? Is it in contrast to the view of human dignity the Capitol takes?
6. How do people resist the Capitol regime? What does Catniss do (give examples) that is a catalyst for people waking up and refusing to allow the brutality of the Hunger Games any longer?

Good Books for Catholic Adults

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Moms and dads need fiction too! I firmly believe it is not only important but integral to a balanced life for parents to read books too. This list has a lot of readable classics, some fun mysteries, some historical fiction, some Catholic fiction, and some humor. I hope the books on this list inspire, refresh, and satisfy your thirst for the good and true and beautiful!

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means that if you buy through my link I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

In Port William, a love for the land and for neighbors create a tight-knit farming community in rural Kentucky. Wendell Berry‘s Hannah Coulter is a wise elderly woman’s reflections on her life and loves for both people and places. A touching, tantalizing, sometimes tragic picture of a way of life that is mostly lost.

I recently reviewed Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy , a truly beautiful story of conversion and redemption. Check out my review here: Review of “Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy.”

Kristin Lavransdatter by Norwegian Catholic author Sigrid Undset is a beautifully-written trilogy about sin and its far-reaching consequences as seen in the life of a Norwegian woman from girlhood to death.

Undset’s other famous trilogy, The Master of Hestviken, is less recognized in America, but she considered it her greatest work, and I agree that I found it even more powerful than Kristin Lavransdatter.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh is a fascinating mix of an apologia for Catholicism and a recognition of the imperfection of individual Catholics. In addition to his overarching theme of Catholic redemption, Waugh describes the decay of the English aristocracy around the time of World War II. This masterfully written classic is one of my very favorite books to savor.

I also love Evelyn Waugh‘s hilarious and poignant Sword of Honor trilogy. The series starts with Men at Arms, in which Guy Crouchback enlists to help win the war but finds the reality far different than his dreams. Painfully true in many ways to my experiences of military life.

Helena is Waugh’s self-labeled masterpiece. Deceptively short and simple in form, Helena nevertheless leaves you with a clear picture of what this great saint might have been like. And more importantly, an understanding of the type of world which Christianity illuminated like a lightning bolt.

A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken is not fiction at all, but rather his autobiographical tale of true love, found first in his wife, then ultimately in God. This beautifully written and moving book details Vanauken’s love affair with his wife, conversion to Christianity with the assistance of C. S. Lewis, and strengthening of faith through the devastating loss of his wife.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a charming World War II story told in letters. Check out my full review here!

One of my favorite Steinbeck books, East of Eden explores themes of family history, free will, depression, truth, and more. Very dark at times with a sadistic female antagonist, the theme in the end is about forgiveness and the truth setting one free. For a shorter introduction to Steinbeck, try The Pearl, which is a heartbreaking story about greed and true happiness.

Desperate to make ends meet, small-town spinster Barbara Buncle writes a book inspired by her neighbors. General chaos and hilarity ensue upon publication of Miss Buncle’s Book. Clean, good, cozy fun!

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece both on philosophical and literary levels. My favorite Russian novel, this book deals with deep themes such as redemption through suffering, true happiness, and ends justifying means.

Fyodor Dotoyevsky’s tome, a book which many claim to have read but few complete, the one and only Brothers Karamazov. It took me many months to slowly work through, but absolutely worth the time and brain exertion with the shattering meditations on suffering, providence, and the problem of pain.

Chesterton wrote so many fabulous fictional works! In The Ball and The Cross, a Catholic and atheist find an unlikely affinity in their passion about their beliefs. Manalive is my favorite: a hilarious and thought-provoking apologia for a joyful life. The Man Who Was Thursday is one of Chesterton’s most famous works, a fast-paced adventure with a subplot of allegory.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is considered the very first detective novel ever written! Collins uses multiple narrators to tell an engrossing, well-written story. The Woman in White is also excellent.

In Corfu Trilogy, Gerald Durrell recounts his magical boyhood on a Mediterranean island. Check out my full review here!

Michael O’Brien’s Voyage to Alpha Centauri: A Novel achieves the considerable feat of captivating the reader for a whopping 587 pages. Lengthy, yes, but still surprisingly readable, Voyage to Alpha Centauri is a futuristic story of a voyage from earth to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. The quirky, wise elderly narrator, Neal, is juxtaposed to the controlling, totalitarian government most obey blindly.

If you prefer to keep your feet on planet earth, try Michael O’Brien‘s Island of the World instead. This masterfully woven story begins as World War II rips apart Bosnia and Yugoslavia. Michael O’Brien uses this dramatic and deeply sorrowful backdrop to take on the problem of suffering and how a human being keeps his identity when his world is torn apart, again, and again.

Till We Have Faces is a haunting and thought-provoking retelling of the Psyche story from Greek mythology. Psyche’s older sister sets out to write this angry charge against the gods who have ruined her life, as she sees it. But in the process she discovers her own faults and finds truth.

If you haven’t read C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, you just found your next fiction book to read. Written to please J. R. R. Tolkien, this series is full of symbolism, Medieval cosmology, and prescient eschatology. It’s also a thoroughly enjoyable piece of fiction; don’t be intimidated. If you want to dig deeper into what Lewis is saying, this is a great podcast episode from the Literary Life folks.

North and South is a novel of contrasts: the gentile South and the industrialized North of England, humanism and capitalism. British literature fans will enjoy this classic work by Elizabeth Gaskell.

G. K. Chesterton’s biographies of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas are a wonderful balance of carefully researched history, theological and philosophical insights, and Chesterton’s signature poetic imagination. These biographies are memorable and well-worth reading.

In any contest about sheer hilarity and perfect use of the English language, I consider P. G. Wodehouse invincible. His Blandings Castle series will have you laughing until you cry with its cast of idiosyncratic English aristocrats, servants, and imposters.

In stark contrast to Wodehouse’s levity, Flannery O’Connor‘s The Complete Stories are quite dark on the surface, often dealing with tragedy and ugly sin. But each story contains a lesson about human nature and motivations and insight into O’Connor’s Catholic vision which the discerning reader may discover. Most of all, O’Connor is concerned with opportunities for grace: both taken and passed by and lost.

In Quo Vadis, Henryk Sienkiewicz captures the decadence of ancient Rome and the passionate conviction of the persecuted Christians.

Agatha Christie is the queen of the golden age of mysteries. Her plots are clever and thought provoking in more ways than one. Her most famous books, such as Murder on the Orient Express, feature eccentric Belgian detective Hercules Poirot. Christie’s Miss Marple stories illustrate that crimes whether large or small can often be solved by a knowledge of basic human nature. Sometimes humorous, often tragic, Christie’s mysteries satisfy the human desire for justice, though her solutions strike a discordant note with a correctly informed Catholic view of morality. At times, she advocates solutions such as allowing a criminal to kill himself as a merciful solution.

Although Christie is the queen of mysteries, I personally prefer Dorothy Sayers, who is considered by many a close second in the lineup of golden age mystery writers. Her Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery series feature aristocrat sleuth Lord Peter whose lazy manner masks a sharp intelligence. I am partial to Sayers’ books because in addition to producing a fine mystery, she also writes from a broad liberal arts basis, rife with references to other great literature and philosophical insights.

Cry, the Beloved Country is a thoughtful book about racial injustice in Africa. It’s a beautifully written book about the dignity of all people. Sad yet hopeful.

I must confess to binging all seven published volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion when I discovered them. With tones of Wodehouse and shades of L. M. Montgomery, this series is pure delight.

Another modern book which I dare to call a future classic is Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi. Check out my 5-Star review of this fascinating 2021 book here.

One of Wendell Berry’s favorite novels is actually E. M. Forster’s turn of the century classic Howard’s End. Deeply allegorical yet still very readable, I loved this story that asks thoughtful questions about modernism, industrialization, and how to stay connected in the modern world.

Have you read all of Jane Austen? If not consider checking it off your bucket list with The Complete Works.

The End of the Affair by [Greene, Graham]

A modern classic, The End of the Affair by Graham Greene captures perfectly the anger and jealousy and emptiness of a man looking for love in the wrong places. The narrator feels his lover has abandoned him for God and sets out to learn why. Will he be transformed by his search?

Susan Fraser King recounts the life of Saint Margaret of Scotland in a fascinating way. Queen Hereafter tells the story of a young Margaret’s tumultuous life, highlighting her calm trust in God which carried her through her many trials.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a formidable volume, but really, it does move fast! This famous work by Alexandre Dumas explores themes of revenge and forgiveness in an unforgettable way.

Kate Morton writes wonderfully plotted multi-generational historical fiction mysteries like The Secret Keeper. I love how she keeps the reader guessing right to the end. I also enjoy her vibrant elderly narrators, who are often the protagonists of her works.

Yes, everyone has read Pride and Prejudice, but have you read all of Jane Austen?

If you have an appreciation for the classics, you will empathize with Samantha, the protagonist of Dear Mr. Knightley. A modern romance with many nods to classic literature. Check out my full review here!

The Brontë Sisters‘ major works are classic novels. Often dark in their themes, these are nonetheless important books with great insight into human nature.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is considered to be one of the greatest novels ever written due to its picture of human nature with all its complexities and faults. This is a lengthy read, but fast moving enough to keep the reader’s interest.

Treason: A Catholic Novel of Elizabethan England by Dena Hunt is a gripping historical fiction novel detailing the story of a Catholic priest secretly but faithfully performing his ministry to the persecuted English Church. An inspiring story of faith and love of Christ under trying circumstances.

Bleeder: A Miracle? Or Bloody Murder? by John Desjarlais is a well-plotted mystery in which a Classics professor finds himself playing detective to clear himself of a murder charge.

Tobit’s Dog: A Novel by Michael N. Richard is a creative retelling of the Old Testament book of Tobit, set in the deep south. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-moving novel.

The Awakening of Miss Prim: A Novel is a delightful bestseller from Spain that is deeply Catholic in its vision while not stooping to being openly didactic. Read my full review here!

What if you found out you had one year to live? Unlikely heroine Valancy’s humdrum life is turned upside down by unexpected news from her doctor. L. M. Montgomery of Anne of Green Gables fame also wrote this little known but worthwhile little novel for adults: The Blue Castle.

A masterful storyteller, James Herriot the country vet charms the reader with his descriptions of the memorable animals, colorful characters, and dazzling scenery of the Yorshire dales in All Creatures Great and Small. The ultimate feel-good comfort read.

Trigger warning: some language.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is a fascinating historical fiction novel set during World War II. Two sisters help the French resistance while struggling to survive the horrors of the war. So much depth to this novel; read my Review of “The Nightingale” for full details!

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Review of “A Game of Thrones”

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A Game of Thrones is one of the most popular series on TV right now, but my review is more specifically about the books by George R. R. Martin on which the series is based.

A Game of Thrones is by genre a fantasy series, though I might consider it more apt to classify it as a porn drama. Yes, I confess to thoroughly disapproving of A Game of Thrones. Yes, there are moments of surprising heroism by the few characters the reader can root for, notably the dwarf Tyrion and the young princess Arya. Yes, there is excitement and adventure and fast-paced action. But overall, there are so many negatives that I can not recommend these books for a child of any age, or even for adults. I’ll bring you up to speed on the plot briefly, then jump right into the reasons to say “NO” when your teenager asks to read (or watch) this series.

The plot is epic in sweep and far too complicated to break down here in detail, but in broad brushstrokes, you are dealing with a fantasy country called Westeros, where several noble families vie for the “Iron Throne” of the country. The Baratheons, the Starks, the Lannisters, and the Targaryens all think they have a claim to the throne, and the series is a convoluted knot of plots, intrigues, treachery, betrayal, and love triangle, all recounted from a constantly shifting third person viewpoint of various family members. However, the real evil is to north over “The Wall,” where snow zombies walk and the Winter King prepares to invade. A final plot arc involves the young Targaryen claimant’s journey across the sea to raise an army and bring dragons back to conquer Westeros.

Now, a first reason to avoid this series is the deplorable language. Crass, lewd, sexually graphic language is the norm for many of the male characters. The repetition of this sort of language over the course of book after book in the series creates a refrain that you will not want your teenagers having drummed into their brains.

Another reason to avoid the series is the violence. Of course, the “bad”
characters are cruel and sadistic. But even the “good” characters choose inordinately violent actions as the series progresses. For example, one of the teenage girls chooses to feed her husband to his dogs in revenge for his abuse. Another teenage girl has her brother killed by pouring molten gold on his head. It’s not just some characters occasionally using violence. The entire series is primarily about either violence or sex.

And here we come to one of the biggest problems with A Game of Thrones. The series is absolutely saturated with sex. We’re not even talking simple, old fashioned romantic sex. One of the primary “love” arcs is the incestuous relationship between twins Jamie and Cersei Lannister. Princess Daenerys Targaryen first grows to like a rather abusive husband, then after his death engages in a sexual relationship with one of her maids. And of course, there is rape. All described graphically. This series is a form of soft porn, completely inappropriate for any Catholic to read.

Moving onto more subtle concerns, let’s look at the messages Martin sends about religion, God, and human nature in his books. There are several different religious sects and “gods” in A Game of Thrones, but despite their plurality Martin does not seem to ascribe any real weight or truth to any religion. The only cult that seems to have real power are the worshipers of the “Lord of Light.” The “Lord of Light” is some sort of powerful “god” who demands human sacrifice and whose priestess births “dark shadows.” Does anyone else sniff a demonic element here? I find Martin’s choice of the title “Lord of Light” particularly disturbing, given its obvious parallel to Christianity and Jesus.

In addition to no significant religion, in A Game of Thrones there is no objective morality, no meaningful moral code, in a sense no natural law written on his characters’ hearts. Despite some hints at certain characters, notably Tyrion, Arya, and Daenerys, sometimes attempting to follow some sort of vague honor code, overall no one seems to know how to act like a decent human being with any consistency. When it is convenient, characters adhere to family loyalty, but generally their actions are motivated by their desires: avarice, lust, but most of all power-hunger. Every. single. character. seems to be blundering in the dark morally speaking, and you find yourself questioning each chapter: when will the good guy show up?

In essence, A Game of Thrones has an alarming lack of just plain good characters. In fact, this is part of the series’ success: it’s “fresh” way of turning typical fantasy conventions upside down by doing away with knights in shining armor, pure maidens, and good conquering evil. As enticing as something new is, I see no good coming for us Catholics in filling our imaginations with a fantasy world where there is no Supreme Being, no heaven to strive for, and only earthly pleasures to console one. Skip A Game of Thrones. Your soul will thank you.

Good Books for Catholic High Schoolers Part 2 (Age 16 and up)

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Here is the second part of my list of worthwhile fiction for Catholic High Schoolers. (Check out Part 1 here). I recommend these books for young adults sixteen and older either because of a more challenging theme or more mature content such as graphic violence,  situations involving fornication or adultery, or language. I will specify why each book requires a more mature reader to better assist you as the parent in determining what is appropriate for your teenager.

The three Bronte sisters each wrote a classic. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre is the fascinating story of a young woman’s moral and spiritual growth to adulthood through the tumultuous love affair she engages in with her pupil’s guardian. Mature content includes an adulterous affair, sensuality, and mature themes.

Emily Bronte’s single published book is Wuthering Heights, a book showing both a deep moral sensibility in its author and a shocking immorality in its characters. Themes about the havoc sin wreaks on the perpetrators and even an entire community are twined with a story about forbidden love and vengeance.

Ann Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is yet another book that is attempting to uphold morality by showing the consequences of sin in sharp, ugly detail. Alcohol use, illicit affairs, and adultery make this appropriate for a more mature reader.

I recommend most of G. K. Chesterton’s fiction for an older reader simply because his soaring imaginative genius can be better grasped and appreciated the older one gets. Manalive , was my favorite Chesterton book as a teenager, inspiring me to live each day with passion and purpose, rejoicing in being alive. On a more basic level, this is also one of Chesterton’s funniest works.

The Flying Inn: A Novel is another simply hilarious work about a band of madcap rebels resisting prohibition and arrest in a merry journey across England.

Chesterton takes on atheism in The Ball and the Cross. A passionate Christian and equally passionate atheist desire to duel over their differences, but find themselves unlikely allies when the government refuses to allow them to fight over their difference in belief.

The Paradoxes Of Mr Pond is a series of loosely connected mystery stories, thought-provoking and entertainingly recounted.

The Poet and the Lunatics: Episodes in the Life of Gabriel Gale is another collection of mystery stories, this time exploring the idea that a half mad poet may be the person best suited to understand and solve crimes committed by lunatics.

The Man Who Was Thursday is the book subtitled “A Nightmare” by Chesterton, and it is indeed a topsy-turvy, mind-bending adventure-mystery novel. Somehow Chesterton manages to combine allegorical and philosophical with fast-paced and exciting.

Wilkie Collins wrote two fascinating mystery stories, particularly notable for their use of first person narratives from a variety of characters to tell the story. The Woman in White is a romance, a mystery, and an examination of the vulnerability of English women in the nineteenth century. Mature content includes an abusive forced marriage.

Collins’ most famous book, The Moonstone, is both a captivating mystery and important from a literary perspective as one of the first modern crime novels.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is a very lengthy, but worthwhile, novel treating an important theme about whether revenge brings real happiness or healing. Mature but not explicit content about an out of wedlock relationship resulting in a child, murders, and the main character having a mistress.

George Eliot’s most famous work is probably Middlemarch, but I personally enjoyed Daniel Deronda very much. Although long, this book explores many worthy themes about the importance of family, the Jewish people’s place in history, friendship, and true love being willing the best for the other person. Mature content includes illegitimate children, adultery, and domestic abuse.

C. S. Forester’s Hornblower Saga is a long series of books chronicling the adventures of a British naval officer beginning with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, set in 1793 during the Napoleonic wars, and following him to promotions, wars, and self-growth.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters and North and South are two enjoyable and thought-provoking books, each in their own way. Wives and Daughters centers around the family, exploring personal relationships and human nature through a comedic lens. North and South, though also revolving around a romantic plot, takes on larger themes about capitalism and humanism.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic work The Scarlet Letter is a compelling study of sin and its consequences. For a mature reader due to a plot revolving around adultery and an illegitimate child.

A familiarity with Homer is necessary in a well-read individual, so certainly have your teenager read The Iliad and The Odyssey.

I have two more C. S. Lewis titles to add to my recommended list. Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold is the story of Cupid and Psyche retold by Psyche’s plain sister. This is a masterful explanation of human emotions and motivations, and Lewis called it his best book.

The Great Divorce is an amazing allegory about heaven and hell, perfect scope for Lewis’ trademark clear distinctions and concise philosophical explanations. He raises questions such as are the gates of hell locked from the outside or inside?

The Betrothed: I Promessi Sposi , by Allesandro Manzoni, is a powerful story about the power of love and loyalty, as shown by a young couple who though separated for much of the lengthy book never swerve from their devotion to one another. A mature reader due to length.

Taylor Marshall has created a unique book that combines ancient legends about early saints with history and fantasy in Sword and Serpent. I found this book a very enjoyable look at the early church and how famous legends about Saints Blaise, Christopher, Nicholas, and George may have begun. A mature reader due to some sexual references and a truly disturbing look at evil.

Michael O’Brien is a modern day Catholic author of considerable talent. His Children of the Last Days Series begins with Strangers and Sojourners and continues with Father Elijah: An Apocalypse, Eclipse of the Sun , Plague Journal , Sophia House, A Cry of Stone, and Elijah in Jerusalem. These books are semi-apocalyptic in nature, and contain strong dramatic themes and occasional sexual references, though in a tasteful way. They are deeply Catholic, and should inspire Catholic teenagers and adults to face evil head on, knowing that Christ has already conquered.

Margaret O’Hara’s My Friend Flicka series is one of those books far too often considered a children’s book, when in fact it is more appropriate for older teenagers or adults. The classic story of daydreamer Ken’s coming of age through his love of a horse is beautifully written and utterly memorable. The sequel, Thunderhead, is also excellent. I recommend these books for an older reader due to the sexual content between the parents.

George Orwell’s 1984 is one of the most famous books of the modern age, a real modern classic. This dystopian novel is both prophetic and disturbing in its vision of an increasingly totalitarian government which attempts to control every facet of life and brooks no individuality. 1984 is a powerful message not to hand all authority over to and place all trust in a centralized government. Sexual content and violence make me recommend for older readers.

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton is a look at life for the natives of South Africa under white rule. Beautiful prose, almost poetic in nature, combines with an ugly story of desperation and desolation in an unlikely harmony of that makes this book a classic. Older readers due to violence and despair.

Quo Vadis by H. Sienkiewicz is an enduringly timely story set against the backdrop of Nero’s persecution of the early Church. A young patrician, Marcus, follows a circuitous path to converting to Christianity. Sienkiewicz provides not only a moving portrayal of early Christianity, but also an enlightening look at Nero’s court and ancient Rome. More appropriate for older readers due to sensuality and violence.

The Jeweler’s Shop: A Meditation on the Sacrament of Matrimony Passing on Occasion Into a Drama is a play by Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. A beautiful reflection on matrimony through the lens of three different couples’ experiences.

Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels leaves the reader familiar with the main characters and action of the Battle of Gettysburg. An entire novel set during the four days of the battle, this book delves deeply into the thoughts, emotions, and motivations of the players in this decisive battle. For more mature readers due to violence.

Review of “The Maze Runner”

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John Dashner’s The Maze Runner series is one of a string of wildly popular dystopian young adult novels. Fans of the The Hunger Games trilogy and Divergent series will also be familiar with Dashner’s trilogy. With the December 2017 release of a movie based on the series, The Maze Runner is about to receive to an explosion of attention and new fans.

As a busy Catholic parent, you may be wondering if you should let your teens read this series and watch the movie, but not have the time to read it for yourself to determine its appropriateness. Never fear. If you are looking for a one word answer, this Catholic mom is saying No to her young teens reading this series. Read on for a synopsis and highlights of some of the moral issues the series raises.

In brief, The Maze Runner is the story of a teenage boy, Thomas, and his band of friends who accomplish rather unbelievable feats to escape a devilishly designed maze. Oh yes, and all of them have no memories. That about sums it up.
In the second book, The Scorch Trials, Thomas and his friends are again put through a series of perilous experiments in a ravaged world. This time the boys realize that they are undergoing the trials for the greater good of the human race, in the hope of finding a cure for a disturbing, fatal illness known as “the Flare.”
The third book, The Death Cure, is Thomas and his surviving friends’ fight to take down Wicked, the organization which has forced the experiments upon them.

This series is wildly popular because it is a fast-paced story of a group of loyal teens facing nearly insurmountable challenges, with a generous dose of mystery to suck in the reader. But from a Catholic perspective, there are a plethora of moral problems with these books.
One thing parents need to know is just how violent this series is. All three books, but especially the third, present scenarios where teenagers must engage in and witness disturbing violence and gruesome deaths, all depicted graphically. For a book that is singularly lacking in description overall, the author devotes an inordinate number of paragraphs to detailing graphic violence. My view is teenagers should not be reading about this sort of violence, especially when it is in the context of other teenagers committing the violence.

Moving into more vicarious themes, another thing you as the parent need to know is how this book deals with euthanasia. Dashner offers some oddly contradictory views. On one level, The Maze Runner world does not choose to euthanize the segment of the population who are going mad. However, Dashner provocatively offers an ongoing speculation of whether it would just “be kinder” to do so. Then, in the third book, Dashner creates a specific scenario in which one of the major characters, Newt, realizes he has caught the fatal disease and is rapidly going mad. Newt asks Thomas to kill him in the name of their friendship. After various feelings of turmoil and guilt, Thomas ends up deciding to do so. Perhaps the most disturbing part of this twisted scenario Dashner devises is that Thomas never frames the problem in terms of right and wrong. His decision and motivations are all based on a chaos of feelings: loyalty, revulsion, guilt, love, friendship. There is no overarching moral framework or absolute right and wrong even mentioned.

Another moral question raised in The Maze Runner series is an ongoing exploration of how far the end justifies the means. Perhaps the biggest question Thomas grapples with throughout the series is does trying to save the human race justify intentionally killing some? In my view, the book does not give a definitive answer. Thomas thinks first yes in the prequel, then no, then maybe. In the end, his conclusion seems to be that perhaps yes, you can kill some people if you are absolutely positive it will save the majority. Like the euthanasia question, here is another serious moral issue that a teenager is trying to grapple with all by himself. The idea that they alone must create their own morality in a vacuum is not what we want to be instilling in our Catholic teenagers.

A final danger signal I see in these books is Dashner’s choice to use the word “Creators” to refer to the ruthless adults at Wicked who designed the killzone experiments. To me, this raises a question of whether the book is meant to be an analogy for humankind, stuck in a fallen world by an uncaring Creator. Reading too much into this word choice? Maybe. But maybe not. In any case, for all these reasons, I would pass on The Maze Runner as a reading choice for your teenagers.

Good Books on Spirituality, Womanhood, and Motherhood for Catholic Moms

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All of us moms need some fresh inspiration occasionally, and what better place to find it than in good books? I am passionate about making time to fill my own mind with nourishing food for thought. Here are some of my favorite books on Catholic motherhood, parenting, spirituality, and family life.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means that if you buy through my affiliate link I receive a small fee at no additional cost to you.

The Foundation for a Catholic Mom’s Spiritual Library

I believe that the key to a happy family is a serene mother. The foundation for this peaceful spirit can be found in a deep trust in God’s will, as St. Alphonsus de Liguori explains in his classic work Uniformity with God’s Will. This little gem is only $5, and can be read in less than an hour. St. Alphonsus explains the key to happiness and serenity is resignation to God’s will as seen in your lot in life.

Father Jacques Philippe’s Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart outlines a similar vision to St. Alphonsus: that finding peace is tied to confidence in and surrender to God. I love how Father Philippe not only explains the path to interior peace in theory, but then spends the majority of the book explaining how to maintain that peace in real-life circumstances. Again, this is a cheap ($7 at time of writing) but life changing book.

My other favorite Father Philippe book, Interior Freedom delves deeply into a topic close to the heart of most mothers: how to feel free when your world is a busy family. Where is our interior freedom when life circumstances seem against us? Father Philippe’s answer is grounded in a right understanding of freedom, what we were created for, and how the theological virtues enable us to live out our vocation.


Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and Saint Claude de la Colombiere is a third spiritual classic explaining that peace lies in surrender to God’s will. Written over 300 years ago, this is a denser read than the two previous titles.

Caryll Houselander, mystic and Catholic convert, understood a woman’s heart like few authors I’ve encountered. In The Reed of God, she offers a reflection not just on Mary but on Catholic womanhood and motherhood. This is a move-to-tears type of reflection on a woman’s place in God’s order. Beautiful and life-changing.

Growing in Faith: Building a Library which Inspires and Teaches Mom and Family

As kids get older, they ask questions about everything, including our Catholic faith. So whether your children are toddlers or young adults, you benefit not just yourself but your family by slowly educating yourself on a variety of philosophical theological subjects. These books aren’t heavy academic reading that will put a tired mom to sleep, I promise! These are personal favorites that give you something to chew on throughout the day and slowly increase your knowledge of the treasures of the faith.

I appreciate Peter Kreeft’s method of “translating”complex theology into layman’s terms. His book on the Bible is a good example of a great book for your non-fiction shelf. In You Can Understand The Bible, he dives into the genre and core message of each book. I also really like his Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, which is great to have on hand for reference or to read to be prepared to give a defense of what we believe. For a lighter philosophy dabble, I really enjoyed his Philosophy of Tolkien.

Life is Worth Living is a series of talks by Fulton J. Sheen on topics from motherhood to fear, apologetics to the Irish. The chapters are concise and thought-provoking, like listening to a practical homily by an awesome priest.

Full transparency, I am a huge C. S. Lewis fan. Since Lewis’ specialty was “transposing” complex philosophy and apologetics into something a twentieth century men could grasp, his books are perfect for modernity. I highly recommend having his complete non-fiction works as part of your library.

Our Brothers and Sisters in Heaven

One of my favorite priests said in a homily that we should all have a book about a saint or by a saint on our nightstand. The saints are our older brothers and sisters in heaven and we can learn so much from reading their stories and words.

Everyone knows Sigrid Undset because of Kristen Lavrandsdatter, but not everyone realizes she also wrote Catholic classics like Stages on the Road. In this easily digested series of chapters, Undset explores the lives of several lesser known saints from Angela Merici to Robert Southwell.

Ever read the Litany of Humility? It’s a great prayer. Pride, we all struggle, don’t we? In Patrick O’Hearn’s new book Humility of the Saints, he connects the lives of 55 saints with this powerful prayer. Learn from the masters how to combat our fatal flaw.

My Sisters the Saints is a memoir of how Colleen’s life was changed over and over again by her encounters with long-dead women. Creepy? Well, not if they’re saints! A tear-jerker of a reversion story, fertility journey, and growing up spirititually story.

If you or someone you know has experienced the heartbreak of losing a child, this beautiful book has reflections, practical tips, and prayers to help. Nursery of Heaven draws on wisdom form saints such as Gianna Molla for guidance for grieving parents.

Retreats and Daily Reflections


Daily Bible reading has been recommended by several popes and countless saints as a fast track to deepening your spirituality, and Take Up and Read is doing amazing work in creating daily Bible Study guides by Catholic women, for Catholic women. I loved Consider the Lilies, and Rooted in Hope is on my wish list! I have also enjoyed the Blessed Is She guides.

St. Therese of Lisieux’s little way is infinitely practical for and applicable to motherhood, so I highly recommend I Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

For the utterly overwhelmed mom, Danielle Bean and Elizabeth Foss have created the perfect daily verse, reflection, and action prompt all on one page: Small Steps for Catholic Moms: Your Daily Call to Think, Pray, and Act

Catholic Womanhood

Rooted in Love: Our Calling as Catholic Women is a wonderful introduction to seeing your very womanhood as a vocation to embrace. Donna Cooper O’Boyle quotes extensively from encyclicals, John Paul II, and a plethora of saints in this extremely readable exploration of our calling as Catholic women.


Momnipotent: The Not-So-Perfect Woman’s Guide to Catholic Motherhood is a funny, affirming, inspiring book that will leave you empowered to dive back into the beautiful mess that is raising a Catholic family. A quick read with thought-provoking questions in each chapter.


Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s books on womanhood are insightful and inspiring. I enjoyed The Privilege of Being a Woman, which is a response to feminist ideology about man and woman’s equality. Man & Woman: A Divine Invention is an even more fascinating sequel in which von Hildebrand reflects on how man and woman are each part of God’s infinitely wise plan.

Edith Stein, convert and Carmelite, had a brilliant mind. Her reflections on womanhood are insightful and fit well with Theology of the Body.

Catholic Motherhood and Parenting

In Parenting with Grace, Catholic psychologist and father Dr. Greg Popcak joins with his wife Lisa in writing one awesome guide to raising Catholic children. Dr. Popcak takes John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and applies it to raising children in a unique and perspective-changing way, that is backed up by extensive scientific research.


I also love Dr. Popcak’s Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids as a practical, how-to guide for teaching kids about sexuality from a Theology of the Body perspective. More of my favorite books on this subject on this list: Great Books about Sexual Education and Theology of the Body for Catholic Parents

The Temperament God Gave Your Kids: Motivate, Discipline, and Love Your Children by Art and Laraine Bennett brings the classical concept of four temperaments into the modern day and age. Complete with quizzes and plenty of examples of each temperament, this book will help you understand how best to parent your children’s different personality types. I also highly recommend the Bennett’s book on temperaments for adults: The Temperament God Gave You: The Classic Key to Knowing Yourself, Getting Along with Others, and Growing Closer to the Lord.

A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul is an interesting work that applies classical monastic wisdom to the home. If you are seeking a way to better order your life, this would be a good book for you.

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakable Peace is the sort of book you read and immediately pass on to a friend because it’s so good you can’t wait to share it! Sarah Mackenzie has broken down homeschooling into manageable steps and strategies, all based on the foundation of trusting God and aiming to create a well-rounded child who loves God. If you are a homeschooler, or considering being one, or know one, read this book!

Books for Understanding the Modern World

The twenty-first century is a whole new level of crazy. Artificial Intelligence… How does that even work? The Internet… what is it? Technocracy… can we fight it? Should we fight it? Here are some of the books I’ve been reading recently that are helping clarify my thoughts about it all.

Against the Machine is a must-read new book about technocracy, AI, and what we should do about it. While I don’t agree with everything Kingsnorth says, there’s a ton of goodness and food for thought here. This book helped me understand how dramatically the world has changed in the last couple centuries, and even the last decade.

After reading Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine, I went looking for resources on Distributism, also known as Localism. Localism is a great collection of essays on a variety of topics all encompassed in the idea of Localism. Chesterton would approve. This is a practical manual with ideas of how the average person can start living with a more Local/Distributist mindset.

Another rabbit hole I’ve been falling down as I try to understand the modern world is what was different about the Medieval era. What was different about people’s minds? How did they build Gothic Cathedrals? Why was it like in Christendom? Jason Baxter’s new book The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis is a short introduction to aspects of Medieval thought in areas like cosmology, harmony, music, chivalry, and literature. This book isn’t practical like Localism, but understanding what we’ve lost in modernity is important to me too.

Good Books for Catholic High Schoolers Part 1 (Age 14 and up)

On By binzeoIn Book List10 Comments

These book recommendations are intended for high schoolers of all ages, but should contain nothing inappropriate for those high schoolers on the younger side. I have divided the books into three rough categories: literary classics, Catholic fiction, and just for fun. Concentrating on reading the great classics at an early age gives your teenager a solid foundation in and appreciation of the literary riches of western civilization. The books under Catholic fiction range from saint biographies to apologetics disguised as fiction. The books under “for fun” are exactly for that purpose!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means that if you buy through my link I receive a small fee at no additional cost to you.

Literary Classics

Every girl needs to read Jane Austen! Pride and Prejudice and Emma offer an education in the weaknesses and follies of human nature, but also a tribute to people’s ability to change and grow. All of Austen’s books belong on a teenage girl’s bookshelf!

Catholic convert G. K. Chesterton is best known for his non-fiction such as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man, but he is also the author of many fanciful, delightful fictional works. The Complete Father Brown Stories, short mystery stories starring a humble Catholic priest, is a great introduction to the genius of Chesterton. Another loosely connected set of short stories, The Club of Queer Trades, offers thought-provoking ideas about work and leisure wrapped up in captivating stories. Chesterton was also a skilled poet, and his The Ballad of the White Horse and Lepanto are inspiring ballads with themes about Catholic heroes trusting in God in seemingly hopeless battles.

Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, wrote a plethora of entertaining works, but as an introduction, I recommend The Prince and the Pauper, the classic story of two boy swapping places and learning and growing through the adventures that ensue. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are classic works of American fiction, simply entertaining on the surface but containing poignant themes about human dignity, the value of each person, societal norms versus natural law, and slavery.

Of course, a familiarity with the major works of Charles Dickens is essential for a well rounded literary education. I recommend beginning with A Tale of Two Cities , both for its riveting historical fiction storyline and its enduring fame as one of Dicken’s greatest works. Likewise, A Christmas Carol is another perfect first Dickens story due to its relative brevity and famous plot. Over the course of the high school years, I also recommend encouraging your child to readOliver Twist , Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, and David Copperfield .

James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans is just the best known of an entire series of loosely connected tales of pioneers struggling for survival in early America. The series begins with The Deerslayer and continues with The Pathfinder: Or The Inland Sea. These stories, written in the mid-nineteenth century by Cooper, are American classics.

Two Years Before The Mast is Richard Henry Dana’s gripping account of his voyages around Cape Horn, to California, and up and down the New England coast in the mid-nineteeneth century. This American classic showcases travel writing of the best caliber.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is a fictional biography of a castaway who spent twenty eight years on an island. Written over 300 years ago, this adventure story is still relevent and captivating to young readers of today, particularly for the cell phone generation which has almost no concept of being alone.

Rudyard Kipling may be best known as the author of The Jungle Book . However, I highly recommend also reading Kim , the story of an Indian street boy, Captains Courageous, in which a spoiled rich boy learns character through life as a sailor, and The Complete Stalky and Co., which chronicles the escapades of an irrepressible trio of English private school boys.

The Boy Knight of Reims by Eloise Lownsberry is a captivating account of an apprentice goldsmith inthe Middle Ages growing up in the shadow of the great cathedral at Reims. Action and historical information blend together and the reader closes the book knowing a great deal about cathedrals, Joan of Arc, the 100 Year War, and goldsmithing.

Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel is a superb blending of a touching love story and the suspense of the French Revolution. This famous novel is always a favorite with high schoolers, especially since it is a shorter read than many classics!

Animal farm: A Fairy Story by George Orwell is a dystopian novel of lasting fame due to its on point satire about the rise of Communism.

Shane by Jack Schaefer is an American western classic about coming of age, manhood, and sacrifice.

Sir Walter Scott‘s Ivanhoe and Rob Roy have been ill represented in abridgments. Buy or borrow an unabridged version for your children, especially your sons, and let them be entranced by the chivalry of a different age, the grandeur of Scott’s language, and the noble themes of sacrifice and honor.

William Shakespeare. Get his The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Enough said.
But really, read Shakespeare aloud to your protesting teenagers if need be. Exposure to Shakespeare cannot fail to improve a high schooler’s writing and language.

Robert Louis Stevenson‘s classic which should be read for English literacy is, of course, Treasure Island. I also recommend The Black Arrow , a fascinating historical fiction novel about justice, revenge, and honor set during the War of the Roses.

I dare to count The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien as classics. Someday I will write an entire post on why this story of sacrifice and friendship, real love and twisted evil, should be read by every teenager.

Jules Verne‘s adventurous novels are as thoroughly enjoyable and readable for today’s high schoolers as they were for readers of the 1870’s when they were published. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea may be his most famous, but also read Around the World in 80 Days, a fascinating globe trot by a most unlikely duo: a straight-buttoned Englishman and his free-thinking French servant. My favorite Jules Verne, though, is The Mysterious Island , a spin off of sorts to the more famous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in which a group of Union prisoners of War escape their jailers in Richmond only to find themselves marooned on a very mysterious island.

The Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett is an American classic about faith and perseverance.

Willa Cather is a well-regarded author, best known for her famous My Antonia. But I have always preferred Death Comes for the Archbishop , a slow, gentle story about the sacrificial life of a Catholic missionary priest in the southwest.

Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly is both simple and magnificent. Mr. Blue is a modern day Saint Francis of Assisi, rejecting a vast fortune for a life of self-giving, which makes him joyful. If you love G. K. Chesterton, you will adore this book.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s The Complete Sherlock Holmes stories are miniature masterpieces, enjoyable and enlightening. For the reader who enjoys mysteries, I also recommendThe Hound of the Baskervilles for an eerie, yet in the end logical mystery.

The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith has been so referenced in literature that reading it seems inevitable. A bit slow going, with a decidedly didactic tone, this story of a poor vicar and his family in the eighteenth century is more for literacy than enjoyment.

Both fiction and nonfiction from C. S. Lewis provide excellent reading material for high schoolers, but focusing on fiction here, I recommend his Space Trilogy, which begins with Out of the Silent Planet, which explores the question of intelligent life of non-human origin on another planet. Perelandra posits the interesting scenario of a second Genesis-style temptation on a new planet, but with the Eve figure receiving advice both from a devil and a human. The final book, That Hideous Strength , is a powerful apocalyptic-type novel. I also highly recommend The Screwtape Letters, a series of letters purporting to be from an experienced demon explaining how to tempt and destroy humans.

O. Henry is a master of the short story and the twist in the plot! The Best Short Stories of O. Henry is a collection of 38 of his most famous and best loved stories, but he wrote over 600 stories in total so if possible find a complete works at a used book store or library.

Gene Straton Porter‘s Freckles is a heart-warming story of a disabled boy overcoming the odds and making a success of himself by hard work and good character. Porter’s works are notable for their emphasis on natural beauty and themes of nature leading people to God. However, be warned that not all her books are appropriate for younger teen readers! In addition to Freckles, I can recommend Laddie, a charming story of family life and love as told by the youngest in a large midwestern farm family.

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini is a swashbuckling tale about an unassuming Irish physician whom circumstances turn into a successful pirate in the Caribbean. This book raises fascinating questions about honor and duty in the face of injustice and adversity, while also being by turn exciting and downright hilarious.

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is the play on which the famous My Fair Lady was based. Inspired by a Greek myth, this is a story about what makes gentility, a love story, and a comedy, all at the same time.

Five travelers from diverse backgrounds die in a bridge collapse in Peru. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder is a fascinating examination of their lives and the circumstances which placed them on the bridge together for the accident.

The Virginian by Owen Wister is my favorite western. Soft-spoken and mischievous, gallant and mostly good, the Virginian is a cowboy of the best sort. A thoroughly enjoyable look at cowboy life.

One of my favorite authors of all time is P. G. Wodehouse. He is inimitable in his mastery of the English language and ability to create a side-splittingly hilarious story. Even my very not-a-reader husband will read Wodehouse just for comedic relief after a tough work week!
Wodehouse is best known for his Jeeves and Wooster stories, such as The Code of the Woosters, starring Bertie Wooster, an independently wealthy, idle, charming, good-natured young gentleman, and his ever-stoic, stupendously intelligent valet, Jeeves.

Wodehouse also wrote a series set in the country at Blandings Castle. A Bounty of Blandings: Summer Lightning / Heavy Weather / Blandings Castle and several other loosely connected novels are my favorite Wodehouse books, full of wry humor, hilarious misunderstandings, and the society’s own water. The best in this series, and my favorite Wodehouse novel ever, is Leave It to Psmith!

Catholic Fiction

Louis de Wohl wrote numerous captivating biographies of famous saints, such as Lay Siege to Heaven: A Novel About Saint Catherine of Siena and The Golden Thread: A Novel About St. Ignatius Loyola. Gripping and inspiring, these books focus on the struggles even saints face.

The Shadow of His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM is a captivating, true story of a young German seminarian who is conscripted into the Nazi army at the start of World War II. His determination not only to remain a faithful Catholic but to still become a priest is truly inspiring.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers is the real Maria Trapp‘s wonderful, funny account of her family’s amazing story. A touching and inspiring story of trust in God, hope amid hardship,and love for all things Catholic, this is one of my favorite biographies.

A Man for All Seasons: A Play in Two Acts by Robert Bolt is a play about the events leading up to the martyrdom of St. Thomas More. Fascinating and inspiring reading.

A Philadelphia Catholic in King Jamess Court by Martin de Porres Kennedy is Catholic apologetics wrapped up in a fictional story about an average, Catholic teenage boy forced to live in the Bible Belt with his passionately Protestant relatives. His relatives’ challenges to the Catholic faith have the unforeseen result of causing the boy to deepen and study his Catholic faith in a new way.

Lord of the World: A Novel by Robert Hugh Benson is a dystopian novel about the coming of the anti-Christ and a Catholic priest who resists him. Teenagers love dystopia these days (think of the general obsession with Hunger Games) so this novel from over a century ago should be popular again.

The Song at the Scaffold: A Novel by Gertrud von Le Fort follows the fate of sixteen carmelite sisters as they face martyrdom during the French Revolution. Will they persevere in faith and joy to the scaffold?

The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel is the captivating story of Bernadette, the visionary of Lourdes.

The Robe by Lloyd Douglas is a fascinating interweaving of the story of a Roman Centurion’s search for truth with the fate of a seamless robe Jesus wore. A classic conversion story sure to captivate the imagination of the reader.

Also check out my review of Taylor Marshall’s excellent Sword and Serpent Trilogy. 

For Fun

All Creatures Great and Small: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the Worlds Most Beloved Animal Doctor by James Herriot is the first of his many collection of anecdotes about his life as a vet in the English dales. James Herriot is a sheer delight to read. His insight into human nature is as deep as his understanding of animal nature. Funny or moving, all his stories are imbued with a love of God’s creation that is reminiscent of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Warning: There is a decent amount of “gentle” swearing in Herriot’s books. If this is not something you want your children reading, I recommend arming yourself with a black permanent marker and editing!

Penrod by Booth Tarkington is a series of side-bustingly funny anecdotes about young Penrod, the all American mischief maker from midwest USA at the turn of the twentieth century.

Between the Forest and the Hills  by Ann Lawrence is a “historical fantasy” according to the author, blending Roman Britain’s history with Christian tradition and a generous measure of humor. A thoroughly enjoyable book which defies categories.

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey is a side-splittingly funny account of life in a huge family as told by two of the oldest children.

My Heart Lies South The Story of my Mexican Marriage by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino is a true story of a young American who finds herself marrying a Mexican despite herself, and the sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving story of their journey to blend their different backgrounds and attitudes into a harmonious marriage.

Stephen Lawhead‘s In the Hall of the Dragon King is the first in his fantasy Dragon King series. Not great classics, but still an enjoyable coming of age fantasy story about courage, honor, and friendship. There are some interesting themes about Christianity versus paganism which you can direct your teenager to try to identify.

I believe there is some merit to reading at least the first book in the The Hunger Games trilogy. Read my review here for my reasoning and discussion questions/book report ideas.

If your high schooler is over 16, check out Part 2 of my high school reading list!

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Good Christmas Books for Catholic Kids

On By binzeoIn Book List9 Comments

Advent is nearly upon us!  As we turn our thoughts to preparing for this blessed season, here is a merry miscellany of Christmas books to encourage the true spirit of Christmas in your home.  I hope you enjoy reading these beautifully illustrated versions of the Christmas story, stories about popular saints, Advent-calendar style Christmas collections, and stories about the origins of various Christmas symbols and traditions.  With a story here for everyone from the very young to those only young at heart, these books are also great to give as gifts!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means that I receive a small fee when you purchase through my link at no additional cost to you. This is a great way to support the blog!

Christmas board books for the very young:

Who is Coming to Our House? has a gentle, rhythmic text which details the animals preparing their barn for Christ’s coming.

The Story of Christmas is a simple retelling of the Christmas story which I particularly like because of its emphasis on Jesus’ birthday as the reason for Christmas and a short explanation of why we give gifts at Christmas: “to show our love.”

Christmas in the Manger is a very simple rhyming version of the Christmas story.


Christmas picture books new and old for both young and old:

The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale is a whimsical story about a baker who learns that sometimes a dozen is really 13, thanks to St. Nicholas’ intervention. This book is perfect for reading on St. Nicholas’ Day prior to decorating gingerbread St. Nicholas cookies!

Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins is my favorite version of the true story of St. Nicholas. This book’s iconography is a fitting visual companion to the story’s focus on Nicholas’ desire to be an icon of Christ, imitating his Lord in word and deed.


The Road to Bethlehem is a new for 2025 offering from Catholic Publisher Sophia Institute Press. In this fanciful take on the journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph’s faithful dog and cat set off after them for Bethlehem. Along the way many other animals join them on their quest. This heartwarming new book combines the classic folk tale of The Cow Went Over the Mountain and the Bethlehem Journey into a memorable new picture book which 2 to 6 year olds will be sure to enjoy!

The Cobweb Curtain: A Christmas Story is a unique Christmas story about a tiny spider who helps save the Christ Child from Herod’s soldiers. The theme of the littlest helping and a fun connection to tinsel make this one worth buying.

The Legend of the Candy Cane: The Inspirational Story of Our Favorite Christmas Candy is another fun explanation of a favorite Christmas tradition: candy canes. Very young children can understand this simple story with its explanation of the Christian symbolism of candy canes.

The Legend of the Poinsettia is another story to explain a Christmas symbol. This legend offers one explanation of the poinsettia: how little Lucida’s selfless, humble gift of weeds to the Christ Child is miraculously transformed to bright red star flowers.

All for the Newborn Baby is a sweet lullaby sung by the Blessed Virgin to Jesus, describing how all of nature is rejoicing at His coming.

Mortimer’s Christmas Manger is a favorite of mine. This adorable, wee little mouse named Mortimer hears the Christmas story read and decides to give up his bed for the baby Jesus in the family nativity scene.

The Nativity combines the Nativity story from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke with beautiful, illuminated manuscript style illustrations.

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing uses the story of a little boy who makes his own infant Jesus statue to introduce your child to an Italian tradition in which the Pope offers a special blessing on the third Sunday of advent to all the infant Jesus figures in St. Peter’s Square.

Little Star is the story of how only the humblest, small star can see past the newborn king’s humble surroundings and recognize his kingship.

The Christmas Candle

The Christmas Candle is a fanciful take on what might happen if a candle gave one Christ’s eyes, and made one see each stranger as a loved family member.

Christmas in Heaven is the perfect Christmas book for children who have experienced a death in the family this year. This is a tear-jerker that will make you smile as the little boy imagines his grandma spending Christmas in heaven this year. A heartfelt Catholic message of resurrection and reunion in heaven.

Mary, Did You Know?: The Story of God’s Great Plan takes a fresh look at this favorite Christmas carol, offering Scripture verses and interpretive pictures to accompany the verses.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is a story of how a small boy and his mother’s kindness helps a “scrooge” to recover and bring about a Christmas miracle.

Jacob’s Gift is a Max Lucado story about a young carpenter’s apprentice who learns to see Christ in those he meets.

The Christmas Horse and the Three Wise Men is a wonderful imaginative story about three animals, a horse, an elephant, and a camel who must work together using their unique skills to bring the Wise Men to the infant Jesus.

The Three Gifts of Christmas with Audio CD is a morality story in which a spoiled princess is guided by her wise parents to learn lessons about selflessness, sympathy, and the joy of giving.

The Crippled Lamb is a touching story about God’s special plan for even the littlest and weakest creatures.

Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers is the Christmas story retold from an angel’s perspective with beautiful, light-filled illustrations.

The Donkey’s Dream chronicles the dreams the donkey who carried a pregnant Mary dreamed, while exploring some of Mary’s titles. Beautiful illustrations again!

Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree is a powerful story which stars Saint Boniface smiting down the oak tree the pagans worship, and explains the miraculous origins of the linking of evergreen trees with Christ’s birth.

Lucia, Saint of Light is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the legend of Saint Lucia and how her feast is celebrated in Sweden.

Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale is a simple Christmas story young children will love about the kind animals making room for smaller and smaller animals, and eventually the Christ Child.

Legend of the Christmas Stocking is a feel-good inspirational story of a young boy who chooses to use his hard-earned savings to bring joy to poor children at Christmas.

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus’ Birth is a beautifully illustrated story about young Jack learning from his gentle mother the true meaning of Christmas as they bake Christmas cookies to give to the poor.

The Last Straw is the story of Hoshmakaka the camel (kids love this story just for that name) who must learn humility to see the Christ Child.

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona is Tomie de Paola’s beloved story of a village coming together to make Christmas special for an old woman.

Who Was Born This Special Day? is a very simple story for preschoolers as the animals determine by process of elimination that it is the Christ Child who was born on Christmas day.

Christmas from Heaven: The True Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber is an inspiring true story about a World War II Pilot who dropped candy to the German children as a sign of hope and good will.

Saint Francis and the Nativity offers a possible explanation of how the tradition of Nativity scenes came to be: through the collaboration of Saint Francis of Assisi and a simple shepherd boy.

The Miracle of St. Nicholas is the story of a miraculous Christmas in war-torn Russia brought about by the faith of a small boy, the intercession of St. Nicholas, and a community coming together.

The Tiny Star: The Greatest Star the World Has Ever Seen! can be enjoyed by even very young children, who will love its message that even the littlest can have an important task.

Apple Tree Christmas is a charming story about a family who lives above a barn and practices the true spirit of Christmas.


This lovely new Christmas fairy tale from Anthony DeStefano gets to the heart of giving as sacrifice, and the truth that God’s plans are better than our own. Check out my full review: “The Beggar and the Bluebird” Review and buy it through my Sophia Press affiliate link: The Beggar and the Bluebird.

the christmas light book cover

Choosing to do something for someone in need transforms one grumpy little girl’s heart and life in The Christmas Light. For more details, check out my “The Christmas Light” Review!

the spider who saved christmas cover

Gorgeous luminous illustrations in this retelling of the Ukrainian Christmas legend about The Spider Who Saved Christmas. I did an in depth review here: Review of “The Spider Who Saved Christmas”.

O Come Emmanuel book cover advent reflection Jesse Tree

Popular blogger Kendra Tierney has put together a truly family-friendly series of Jesse Tree reflections in O Come, Emmanuel. Check out my Review of “O Come, Emmanuel” for all the details!

The Grumpy Old Ox book cover

The Grumpy Old Ox is a Christmas story with a parable feel. See my Review of “The Grumpy Old Ox” for more about this recent release from Anthony DeStefano.

Looking for a poetical retelling of the Christmas story? The First Christmas by Thomas Williams might be a good fit! I loved the Biblical references woven into this poetic retelling.

Looking for a whimsical new Christmas story? In The Night the Saints Saved Christmas the saints of heaven work together to deliver the presents one Christmas when St. Nicholas catches a cold.

Joseph’s Donkey is about the donkey- but it’s really about St. Joseph. I thought the beautiful, gentle illustrations really melded well with the story and spirit of St. Joseph.

The Story Of The Other Wise Man is for an older reader. This beloved story by Henry Van Dyke is about a fourth wise man who never does get to see baby Jesus, but instead beautifully illustrates the Bible message of seeing and serving Christ in those one meets on one’s journey.

Waiting for Christmas: Stories and Activities for Advent is a specifically Catholic resource focused on various ways of celebrating Advent: stories, songs, poems, and activities.

24 Christmas Stories to Welcome Jesus is, as the name implies, a story a day until Christmas collection. The stories range from the various gospel accounts of the Nativity to Christmas stories and traditions from around the world.

Why the Chimes Rang: A Christmas Classic

Why the Chimes Rang and Other Stories are old stories from the beginning of the twentieth century which illustrate the true spirit of Christmas.

Destination: Bethlehem is an advent book with twenty four chapters, one to read each evening in December, as you accompany the characters through Palestine on a journey to Bethlehem, meeting many Bible characters along the way. Perfect for a family read-aloud!

Kersti and Saint Nicholas

Kersti and Saint Nicholas is by Hilda Van Stockum, one of my very favorite children’s authors, and therefore simply a joy to read. Four-year-old Kersti knows she falls into the naughty category, but her appeal to the good bishop on behalf of all the little ones who struggle to be good is a wonderful illustration of mercy versus strict judgment.

The Gift of the Magi is a famous O. Henry short story about sacrifice, true love, and the true meaning of Christmas.

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